Here is yet another food recall:

FDA: Avoid Pistachios

FRESNO, Calif. – Federal food safety officials warned Monday that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they figure out the source of a possible salmonella contamination.

Still reeling from the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts, the Food and Drug Administration said central California-based Setton Farms, the nation’s second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling all of its 2008 crop — more than 1 million pounds of nuts

“Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products,” said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. “The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers.”

Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn’t been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, the plant decided to shut down late last week, officials said.

The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 60 million pounds of pistachios that the company’s plant can process each year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.

California alone is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.

The FDA learned about the problem last Tuesday, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.

The FDA contacted Setton Farms and California health officials shortly afterward.

By Friday, grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.

Because Setton Farms shipped 2,000-pound bags of nuts to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health.

Setton Farms, based in Terra Bella, a rural hamlet in Tulare County, did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

“It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes,” Farrar said. “The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility.”

Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

For nuts, roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated. That can happen if mice, rats or birds get into the facility.

Last winter, a national salmonella outbreak was blamed on a Georgia company under federal investigation for flouting safety procedures and knowingly shipping contaminated peanuts.

The outbreak is still ongoing. More than 690 people in 46 states have gotten sick. Nearly 3,900 products made with peanut ingredients from Peanut Corp of America have been recalled.

California public health authorities have taken hundreds of samples at Setton’s processing facility, but the exact type of salmonella has not yet been determined, Farrar said. The food companies’ own tests isolated four different types of salmonella, but none were the same strain as the one found in the peanuts, Acheson said.

Setton Farms is owned by the Commack, New York-based Setton International Foods, Inc., which sells nuts, dried fruit, edible seed, chocolate and yogurt coated candies.

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

This post is twofold….

I wanted to show you what I am doing for my sister for her birthday ..(don’t worry, I don’t think she even knows I have a blog so she won’t see this post!)… As well as give you ideas for Mother’s Day (or any other special occasion that you will need a gift for!).

In addition to purchasing WONDERFUL cards from Bella Sera Designs I have also purchased one of their Wish Boxes (alternate gift boxes).

I put three of our new spring soap (Blue Lotus, Asiatic Lily & Cantaloupe, Ume Blossom) in the wish box along with a silk flower and instructions on how to use the wish box.

You are supposed to write down three wishes on the included cards then put them in the wish box with the hopes that at least one of them will come true!

You can fit four of our soaps into the wish box.

So here is an idea for Mother’s Day (which is coming fast in May!) -

Order any of the Wish or Gift Boxes from Bella Sera Designs (don’t forget to get a card!) and any of our soap to create a one-of-a-kind, unique gift for someone special.

 For an extra treat receive 15% off your Country Meadow order by entering in the code: Bellasera during checkout. You will receive 15% off your order excluding sales or clearance items. Discount does not apply to sales tax (if applicable) or shipping costs. Discount ends May 20, 2009.

Don’t wait!

I’m not certain how often Bella Sera Designs offers the wish/gift boxes so order now before they are all gone!

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Sometimes extinction is not a bad thing….

I LOVE sea glass but alas…I do not own a single piece….

However…

I DID find a local company that sells sea glass (and jewelry!) so they are on my list for future purchases of:

Jewelry

Bulk Sea Glass – Just to have sitting in a decorative bowl

Single Sea Glass – For jewelry making

Check out West Coast Sea Glass for your glass needs!

Below I’m going to post information on sea glass from Wikipedia….

Sea glass is actual glass that has been littered and for whatever reason made it’s way to the ocean. Over many years the salt water and wave action wears down the glass into soft-looking, beautiful and sometimes etched glass. People are now much more environmentally aware of recycling and saving our planet that sea glass has become much harder to find…simply because we don’t have the mass littering (or dumping of garbage into our oceans) that we did in years past.

While authentic sea glass may eventually become extinct it IS for the better of our planet!

**

Sea Glass

Sea glass (also known as beach glass, mermaid’s tears, lucky tears, and many other names) is glass found on beaches along oceans or large lakes that has been tumbled and smoothed by the water and sand, creating small pieces of smooth, frosted glass.

Sea glass is one of the very few cases of a valuable item being created from the actions of the environment on man-made litter.

Colors

The color of sea glass is determined by its original source. Most sea glass comes from bottles, but it can also come from jars, plates, windows, windshields, glasses, art, flasks, containers, and any other glass source that has found its way into the ocean. Some collectors also collect sea pottery.

The most common colors of sea glass are kelly green, brown, and clear. These colors come from bottles used by companies that sell beer, juices, and soft drinks. The clear or white glass comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields, windows, and assorted other sources.

Less common colors include jade, amber (from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early bleach bottles), golden amber (mostly used for spirit bottles), lime green (from soda bottles during the 1960s), forest green, and soft blue (from soda bottles, medicine bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 1800s and early 1900s, windows, and windshields.) These colors are found about once for every 25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.

Uncommon colors of sea glass include green, which comes primarily from early to mid-1900s Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, and RC Cola bottles, as well as beer bottles. Soft green colors could come from bottles that were used for ink, fruit, and baking soda. These colors are found once in every 50 to 100 pieces.

Purple sea glass is very uncommon, as is citron, opaque white (from milk glass), cobalt and cornflower blue (from early Milk of Magnesia bottles, poison bottles, artwork, and Bromo-Seltzer and Vicks VapoRub containers), and aqua (from Ball Mason jars and 19th century glass bottles.) These colors are found once for every 200 to 1,000 pieces found.

Rare and extremely rare colors include gray, pink (often from Great Depression era plates), teal (often from Mateus wine bottles), black (older, very dark olive green glass), yellow (often from 1930s Vaseline containers), turquoise (from tableware and art glass), red (often from nautical lights, found once in every 5,000 pieces), and orange (the least common type of sea glass, found once in 10,000 pieces.) These colors are found once for every 1,000 to 10,000 pieces collected. Some of the black glass is quite old, originating from thick eighteenth-century gin, beer and wine bottles.

Hobby

Like gathering shells or stones, collecting sea glass is a hobby among beach-goers and beachcombers, and many enjoy filling decorative jars or making jewelry from their finds. Hobbyists both enjoy searching for and collecting sea glass, as well as identifying its original origins.

Sea glass can be found all over the world, but the beaches of the Northeast United States, Mexico, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Maine, Nova Scotia, The Chesapeake Bay, California, and Southern Spain are famous for sea glass. The best times to look are during spring tides and perigean and proxigean tides, and during the first low tide after a storm.

Artificial

Sea glass can also be produced artificially by using a rock tumbler, and some companies sell artificially produced sea glass to tourists or make jewelry from it. As littering is increasingly discouraged, authentic sea glass becomes harder and harder to find and artificial sea glass is sometimes fraudulently advertised as authentic. Rock tumbled glass is not the same as sea glass, since long-term exposure to water conditions creates an etched surface on the glass that cannot be duplicated artificially. The differences can be distinguished microscopically.

Sea glass collectors claim that the term “sea glass” should be reserved for authentic specimens, and artificial sea glass should be termed “craft glass”.

***

West Coast Sea Glass

We have added West Coast Sea Glass to our Favorite Vendors list!

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

I first posted about Christian the Lion HERE….

This morning on the Today show Ace Bourke and John Rendall talk about the second and final reunion with Christian (article below). Make sure you check out the final video of that last reunion and notice how big and mature Christian is (the video has no sound)….

And yes…if you must know…I’m looking for the kleenex again…

Final Goodby Video

***

Christian the Lion’s Owners Recall Final Farewell

Those two guys with the lion — the ones in the YouTube video with the Whitney Houston soundtrack — are back. Now, they are showing another film clip, unseen for years, of their second and final reunion in Africa with their pet and friend, Christian.

Ace Bourke and John Rendall talked about that final reunion with TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Wednesday in New York. It shows the same two shaggy Aussies seen in the clip that was viewed by some 45 million people on YouTube last year. But Christian the lion is twice the size he was in that film, an enormous and regal king of the Kenyan jungle.

In the first video, Christian leaps on them in joy. In the second, he’s nearly 500 pounds and totally in charge. Although he tried to climb on their laps, film from the encounter shows him lying placidly on the ground while his friends hunker down with him to exchange kisses and licks.

Thanks to the attention generated by the YouTube film, Bourke and Rendall have updated and republished the book they wrote about their experience in 1971, “A Lion Called Christian.” They’ve also written a children’s version of the book called “Christian the Lion.” And, they told Vieira, they’ve reintroduced to the public George Adamson, the man who rehabilitated Christian and worked tirelessly to preserve endangered wildlife and habitat in Kenya.

“The beauty of YouTube is that it’s introduced another generation to Adamson and his work,” Bourke told Vieira after watching his younger self with the lion who once roamed the streets of swinging London of 1969 and 1970. Some have suggested that the YouTube film, which shows Christian hugging and licking his two human friends like an eager puppy, must have been staged. The lion had not seen them for a year while he was being rehabilitated into the wild.

“That’s his genuine reaction, you can see the excitement,” Rendall told Vieira, who admitted that she is one of millions who can’t watch the video without getting misty-eyed.

“We knew he’d know us and would still love us the way we loved him.

The video has been so popular because it strikes deep emotional chords, Rendall added. “There are so many issues that have arisen out of it,” he said. “One, I think, is that people can appreciate the love that an animal can have for human beings. It’s completely honest. You couldn’t fake that,” Rendall said.

They had raised Christian from when he was a few months old after buying him in Harrods, the London department store that bragged that it could get anything for anyone. He had hung out with them in a furniture store on King’s Road, the hippest street in swinging London, romped with them in the big garden behind a local church, toured the town in the back of their convertible, and even eaten with them in restaurants.

“It wasn’t as extraordinary to have a lion in London at that time,” Rendall told Vieira. “There were so many extraordinary things going on. Swinging London. There was music. We would see the Stones and the Beatles driving up and down King’s Road.” In that milieu, he said, they were “just a couple Aussies with a lion.” Read more about Christian’s upbringing in London in this book excerpt.

Bourke and Rendall had known each other in their native Australia. After graduating university, they made their separate ways to London, as many Aussies did and still do before settling down into a career. They met by chance in London and moved in together, getting work and lodging over a trendy custom-made furniture store named, appropriately enough, “Sophistocat.”

Even in 1969, Bourke and Rendall knew that it would be a huge challenge to have a lion as a pet. They had to wait weeks and convince the people at Harrods that they were capable of caring for a lion. But there were no laws against it back then. They didn’t even have to take out a special insurance policy.

They don’t recommend that anyone else do it, and hasten to say that the very idea is preposterous and dangerous. But they did it and they succeeded and their story continues to move people and focus attention on vanishing wildlife and habitat even today.

Bourke and Rendall had no training in how to raise a lion, but seemed to have an intuitive knowledge that you don’t own a lion as you would a dog and you’re not its master; you’re its friend. They never showed fear around Christian and never tried to impose their will on him. Instead of his owners, they were his pride.

There was just one time when they were frightened by Christian, and also one time when he was scared by anything in London. Their moment came when Christian got hold of a fur belt that had fallen off a coat and settled down to chew it to oblivion.

They tried to rescue the belt, but Christian flattened his ears back and growled, not like their pal but like a wild animal they didn’t recognize. Rendall and Bourke felt like fleeing the room, but instead they retreated a few steps and talked calmly to each other, as if nothing were wrong. They remain convinced that if they had shown Christian the fear they felt, the relationship would have been over and Christian would have become dangerous.

But Christian also had his moment of terror, they said in their book. As Rendall tells it, they took Christian with them on a visit to some friends. A woman who lived with their friends was taking a bath, and Christian wandered into the bathroom to get a drink. The bloodcurdling scream that greeted him sent the king of the jungle running away in terror.

Giving up their pet
Adamson had rehabilitated Elsa, the lion who became famous through the “Born Free” book and movie. Bourke and Rendall were introduced to Adamson through a chance meeting with the actor and actress who had starred in the film. When Christian was a year old and too big to live in the furniture shop, Adamson agreed to attempt to introduce the lion to a native habitat neither he nor his zoo-bred parents had ever known.

When Bourke and Rendall went to Kenya a year after Christian was returned to the wild, even Adamson hadn’t believed that Christian would be so enthusiastic to see his former owners. But Rendall and Bourke said they never had any doubts.

They bought Christian in 1969 and took him to Africa the following year. The YouTube reunion was in 1971. The following year, they went back to see him one more time.

Adamson, who would be killed by robbers in 1989, had told them he was seeing Christian infrequently and wasn’t sure he would be around. But Bourke and Rendall went to Adamson’s camp and waited. On the third day, during dinner, Christian ambled into the camp to say hello.

“He totally interrupted dinner. Tried to sit on our laps. Knocked George over. Jumped on the table,” Rendall told Vieira. “That wasn’t filmed.”

During that visit, Bourke added, “We were very respectful and he dictated the relationship totally.”

Adamson saw Christian a few more times over the next several months, but finally lost all contact. The wildlife expert believed that Christian moved north to happier hunting grounds and lived out his natural life. Some have speculated that poachers may have killed Christian, but Bourke and Rendall are convinced that if someone had shot the lion, word would have gotten around. Christian, they said, was, at 500 pounds, probably the biggest lion in Kenya, and that kind of kill would not have remained a secret.

The experience moved Rendall, who lives in London and Australia, to devote his life to conservation, and he is a trustee of the Adamson Trust. Bourke, who became a dealer in Aboriginal art in his native Australia, is also a supporter of the cause of preserving wildlife.

Both hope that the millions of people who have been so moved by the clip contribute to the cause.

To learn more about the George Adamson Trust and how you can support the preservation of wildlife, visit wildlifenow.com.

**

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

I could have sworn I had already posted this recipe but in looking back on our blog I couldn’t find it…so I’m posting it again!

Chicken Enchiladas

1 3/4 c. Sour Cream

1/2 c. Green Onions, chopped

1/3 c. Cilantro, fresh, minced

1 T. Jalapeno Pepper, minced

1 tsp. Cumin, ground

1 T. Vegetable Oil

12 oz. Chicken Breasts, boneless, cut into 3×1″ strips

1 tsp. Garlic, minced

8 Flour Tortillas, 8″

1 c. Cheese, shredded

1 c. Salsa

1 Tomato, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9x3″ baking pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl mix together the sour cream, green onion, cilantro, jalapeno pepper and cumin.

Heat veg. oil in skillet. Add chicken strips and garlic and saute for 4 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Divide the chicken strips among the 8 tortillas, placing them down the center. Top with the sour cream mixutre then roll them up and place them in the baking dish, seam side down.

Sprinkle with the cheese and cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly. Spoon salsa down the center and sprinkle with fresh chopped tomatoes.

Makes 8 servings.

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

I was browsing a newly found website EcoWorldly and came across an article from Clean Technica regarding Dirty Technica!

I found this article (which I will post  in full below) fascinating for several reasons:

*It’s in Germany

*I had NO IDEA there are machines THIS BIG

*I didn’t know there was such a thing as Lignite

*I’m wondering if this is what’s called Strip Mining

**

Dirty Technica – The Most Destructive Machine on the Planet?

Written by Timothy B. Hurst

Published on March 4th, 2009

The bucket-wheel excavator has long scoured the lignite fields of western Germany, erasing whole villages and leaving a trail of bad soil and salty water.

With all sorts of claims being made about clean energy and clean tech, it is more than a mere academic exercise to explore what those terms really mean. One way of defining something is by defining what it is not. For example, the large bucket-wheel excavators like those used in the open-cast lignite mines of western Germany are not clean tech. And here’s why…

At 300 feet tall and 600 feet long, the largest bucket wheel excavators are the biggest land vehicles ever made. Though they only dig at a maximum of 0.37 mph, these machines move 240,000 cubic meters of material daily, about as much as a football field dug to 100 feet deep.

Because they continuously dig, transport, and dump material twenty-four hours a day these machines require 16 megawatts of externally supplied electricity; and there are twenty-two currently in use in the four open-cast lignite mines in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. 

Bucket wheel excavators have been working these lignite fields since 1933, playing an instrumental role in fueling the Hitler machine with coal-based synfuel. Over the years, the mining activities have scarred the land and created massive canyons, reaching up to 500 metres deep and over 10 Km wide (see a 360 degree panorama of the lignite coal mine in Garzweiler).

The scale of the Rhineland lignite operations is such that entire communities have been razed and their occupants relocated to new villages, to make way for the dirty excavation of a dirty fuel.

After the land has been mined, reclamation efforts have fallen short of repairing local ecological services provided by wetlands and forests

An estimated 30,000 people have been relocated by lignite operations in the Rhineland. Fifty-eight villages have vanished thanks to mining activities in the region, including some that date back to the Roman Period.

The latest to give way to the encroaching mining operations is the village of Otzenrath. Current plans are to work the fields for another 25 years, and if that is the case, more villages will be slated for demolition, erasing thousands of years of history and culture from the map.

The arrangement now, is such that, landowners no longer receive land in exchange for their property, only cash (parcels of land were once part of the package); with acreage at a premium in the German countryside, this can put a real pinch on local farmers who may lose a sliver of their land that they are never able to put back into productivity.

The Rhineland lignite mines are currently working at depths of up to 350m, and will dig up to 500m deep, depending on the depth of the lignite layers. At such depths, it is imperative for effective extraction to keep the earth dry, so ground water is drained out by a chain of pumping stations.

Most of this water goes unused and ends up in the Rhine and Maas rivers, lowering the water table in the region and concentrating the contaminates in what is left. The end result being poor quality water and less of it, and an ecosystem that may take thousands of years to repair itself.

Lands that were once prized for their rich top soil are never fully restored such that they can sustain productive agriculture. Even after the lignite mining pits are reclaimed, the soil left over is not suitable for vegetable farming or productive animal grazing because the good top soil (or, “overburden”) has been scraped off and remixed with the slag leftover from burning coal at local plants.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the poor fuel quality of lignite, losing as much as 60% of its energy to the atmosphere as waste heat, and more carbon dioxide, particulates, and sulphur dioxide than bituminous and subbituminous coal.

There you have it, the evidence has been presented, and the case has been made. I will let you decide for yourself, but by my own calculations, bucket-wheel excavators are decidedly not clean tech.
**

After reading and re-reading this article and looking at the pictures all I can say is…WOW..and WOW again.

Hugely fascinated by the extremely large machines but horrified at the destruction left behind.

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

I was browsing through some old files on my computer last night and found something I wanted to share.

I like dolls…I don’t collect them or anything but dolls are fun even if you are a grown woman!

Years ago (about 7) I was at a craft fair and found a gal that was selling those real-looking dolls.

She buys the parts and actually puts them together. The face she colors (with what I don’t know) to look real then glues the wig on. The body is filled with sand or sand-like material and the dolls weigh the approximate weight of a baby that size.

I, of course bought me one and my mom one (these were over $100.00 each back then) and I bought our granddaughters smaller versions (which I’m not sure they still have).

We (my mom and I) even have clothes for them!

Hers is the girl (Jody) and mine is the boy (Timmy).

I still love these dolls and keep meaning to find a high-chair for Timmy!

Disclaimer: I don’t actually play with Timmy, he just sits on a chair in the spare bedroom and waits for the granddaughters to come over!

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

We are trying something a little new this year by adding a few new soap scents for both spring and summer!

Now ready to go are three new soaps in spring-like scents. These soaps are available in soap bars (4.5 oz.) and soap logs (2+ lbs.) and are colored with cosmetic grade mica’s.

Even though at the moment we have these listed as a limited edition item they have a very good chance of being added to our permanent product line.

These soap are not packaged in our normal soap boxes but instead are wrapped in decorative paper, label, hemp cord and decorated with silver charms. You can find these soaps in our Beaded Soap Collection.

Asiatic Lily & Cantaloupe – Exotic lily blended with fresh, juicy cantaloupe makes this a mouth-watering scent.

Blue Lotus – A complex (and yet light!) blend of hyacinth, tuberose, freesia, orange blossom, white calla lily, chrysanthemum, linden leaf, and pomegranate rounding out with wild celery, cypress and mahogony.

Ume (pear) Blossom – A delightful spring scent combining bartlett pear, apricot, white peach, and plum blossom with mimosa and spring air.

***Now…As a Special Bonus….***

If you order all three spring soaps (asiatic lily & cantaloupe, blue lotus, ume blossom) we will include a FREE  mini Thank You card handmade by Peculiar Parchment! You must order all three soap bars (4.5 oz.) in a single order.

We are making it easy for YOU to say Thank You to that special someone! Not only will they enjoy a spring scented soap they will enjoy a unique spring-themed, handmade thank you card (that you didn’t even have to pay for!!!).

Asiatic Lily & Cantaloupe Soap Bar & Log

Blue Lotus Soap Bar & Log

Ume Blossom Soap Bar & Log

Peculiar Parchment  Mini Thank You Cards

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

We now have unscented soap available in limited quantities.

Simply put….

This soap is left all natural…no scent, no color.

Our unscented soap is not packaged in our normal boxes but instead is wrapped in decorative paper, label, hemp cord and decorated with a ‘handmade’ charm.

This product is a Limited Edition and is available only once a year in limited quantities so order yours now!

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Our Birch and Juniper soap bars are now on sale!

Naturally scented with essential oils you can get these for only $4.03 each. Sale ends at the end of the month or while quantities last!

Rebecca

Country Meadow Ltd.

Eco-Friendly Spa Products

Gentle on your body…

Gentle on the earth…

www.countrymeadowltd.com